By Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Dallas, Texas The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. --Proverbs 16:9 If you have made a big mistake or bad choice, perhaps you have asked some of the following questions about God’s role in your failure: If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, then did His plan for me include my failure? If my failure was part of God’s sovereign plan, then how can God hold me responsible? If God’s script for my life has already been written, then does it matter what I do? These questions have profound implications for understanding how we can have a second act in life. What is God’s role in our past mistakes? This week, we will look at the relationship between God’s sovereignty and our choices. The most foundational principle is this: God is in control of everything that happens. God’s sovereignty means that God is in charge of everything that happens in His universe. In Isaiah 45:6, God says, “There is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.” God has no competition in this universe. There is nobody He is trying to wrestle control of this universe from. Many people accept the sovereignty of God in theory, but they have a hard time … [Read more...]

By Steve Horn, pastor, First Baptist Lafayette I guess it is possible to maintain a vibrant spirit-filled, Christ-honoring, God-abiding spiritual walk without maintaining a relationship with a local church, but I have never met anyone who did. I’ve known some who have tried, but I have never known anyone who succeeded. I’ve met some who said they were going to succeed, but I have never known anyone who did. The local church, including ours, with all of her problems and at times hypocrisy and inconsistencies, is still the best way to help you in every other area of life. Maintaining a growing relationship with Christ when we are connected to the church will never be easy, but I maintain it is nearly impossible to maintain that relationship without the Church. So, as we begin this new year, I urge you to commit yourself anew to Christ and anew to the Church. I urge you as a sign of your commitment to pledge your faithfulness to the “assembling of ourselves together” each week. Notice in the Hebrews 10 passage the high priority of worship. Our Condition Before Salvation—The first thing that ought to compel us to worship is our condition before our salvation in Christ. The context of Hebrews gives several ideas to … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey, Pastor, FBC Covington Not everyone believes in God and some do not want to believe in God. Those people may never know God, and that’s a bad thing. To know God and to get to spend your life with Him is a good thing. Here are four things I think everyone should say to God. I would encourage you to say these things when you are alone and not distracted. I also would encourage you not to do this frivolously but in great earnestness before God. You probably don’t need any formal way to get this done. Just talk to God like He’s right next to you. He is, and He wants you to know him. He cares for you deeply and wants the best for you for all eternity. Don’t get confused about long-term and short-term. You already know that the two may conflict. God is in it with us for the long-haul. Try saying these four things to God. First, “God, if you are real please make Yourself known to me.” Second, “I am willing to open myself to You on Your terms.” Third, “I’m a little nervous about this conversation. Please let me know I’m on the right track.” Fourth, “please keep me safe in Your presence.” What can you expect if you say these four things to God? First, you can expect that God will … [Read more...]

A lot of people yesterday had a New Year’s lunch of black eyed peas and cabbage or greens. Though origins of these traditions are varied, the common reason is tied to good luck, health, and financial prosperity. One tradition is that the Union troops left the black eyed peas in their victory march South believing the crops only for animal consumption. Folks in the South considered this to be good luck that they had such good food to eat after the war. John in writing to his friend Gaius shared his prayer blessing. I think it is a good prayer to pray over our friends as we begin this New Year. "Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as you are spiritually. 3 For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified to your faithfulness to the truth—how you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 2-4) A Good Prayer Here’s how we can pray for our friends. -- That you will prosper in every way. The abuse of the so-called “prosperity preachers” have perhaps made us timid to pray for God’s favor over our lives. But here is how I understand the difference in what they do and what we … [Read more...]

By Jack Graham He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. -- Colossians 1:15 I want you to try to imagine what the world would be like without the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s beyond our imagination, but just try to picture it. We certainly wouldn’t know God as we know Him. In fact, we’d be fortunate to have even heard about the God revealed in the Old Testament. So what changed on that first Christmas so long ago? Well, when Jesus Christ came, the Bible says He was Immanuel… “God with us.” God was no longer a distant deity. He was no longer an unfathomable, unapproachable image. But God became flesh and blood; God was with us! That’s why Jesus would later say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). When Jesus was born into the world, He was God! He wasn’t a man acting like God; not even God acting like a man; but God who was fully man and a man who was fully God! When Christ was seeing, that was God seeing. And when Christ was walking, that was God walking! If Jesus hadn’t come, and if He weren’t God, we’d never have the knowledge of God we have today. So thank God today for sending Jesus to Bethlehem all those years ago so that you might have a clear picture of a God who … [Read more...]

Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. —Isaiah 7:14 What would the world be like if Christ had not come? As we began to see yesterday, if Christ had not come, many prophecies in the Bible would be unfulfilled. Consider that Jesus’ place of birth was prophesied 700 years before He was born, and, that when we sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” there is a reason we say “little.” Micah 5:2 says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.” Of all of the cities in the world, God pinpointed a tiny town with fewer than 1,000 people, and, 700 years before it happened, God said Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Savior. The manner of Jesus’ birth was also prophesied hundreds of years earlier. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Think about that -- God prophesied the Messiah would be born of a virgin. The Hebrew word used in this verse means one and only one thing: it means a virgin, someone who has never had a sexual relationship with a man. God prophesied the … [Read more...]

By Joyce Smith Christmas parties, goodie bags, and gift exchanges. This time of year gives us opportunities to give little treats to our preschoolers we teach in Mission Friends. What do you do if you have a preschooler with allergies? This can make all the difference in what we give and serve to preschoolers. This year I have a preschooler who has severe allergies to food items, and we have to be very careful about what we offer to our Mission Friends. We do not want to single him out, so we serve all the preschoolers in our class the same snacks that he can have. The nature of his allergies is so severe that we always get prior approval from his mom for anything we serve. So for Christmas when we want to give our preschoolers a special treat, what can we give? I started searching and making a list of non-food items for preschool teachers to give as treats. What other items can you add to the list? Nativity ornament stampers fun drinking straws small packages of play dough silly sunglasses finger puppets shoelace charms Originally published on www.WMU.com. … [Read more...]

By Waylon Bailey I often hear people say they can’t understand why people reject Jesus. It often comes in the context of their having gone through great personal trials. It sounds something like this: “How do people deal with their hurts and troubles without Christ?” While we can’t give every reason, there certainly are some biblical reasons to help us understand why people don’t follow Christ. First, people do not accept Christ because they are caught up in the cares of the world. In the Parable of the Soils, Jesus told about the word of God being scattered over various soils. Some of the soils were receptive to the word and others were not. Jesus said that these people had the word taken from them by “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of money, and the desires of there things enter in and choke the word” (Mark 4:19). We all understand this picture. We have all been overwhelmed by “the cares of the world.” Life in itself creates many obstacles to knowing Christ and receiving Him as Lord and master. It is simply the truth that many things get in the way and keep us from making an honest assessment of the truth. Second, some people actually love life as they have it and don’t want to change. The Bible … [Read more...]

By Franklin Graham Have you ever heard the old saying “Misery loves company?” That’s what this atheist billboard made me think of. These people are anti-God, and they want others to miss out on the joy of Christmas as well. They are blind to the truth of Christmas—which is God showing His great love for us by sending a Savior, His Son Jesus Christ. Christmas isn’t about Santa Claus or Jingle Bells. So let’s make Christmas great again this year—by attending church and by keeping Christ at the center. Are you in? … [Read more...]